Free download: Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Issue #21

DC Comics is giving away Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Issue #1 as a PDF download. Once you get hooked, they figure you'll shell out for the print anthology that contains the first seven issues.

UPDATE: JCCALHOUN comments: "This is factually incorrect on a couple of levels. First of all, this isn't issue number 1. It is issue #21. Secondly, it is not Moore's first issue as writer of Swamp Thing but his second. His first issue was #20 which wrapped up all the outstanding issues of Marty Pasco's run which was issues 1-19 of the Saga of the Swamp Thing."

Created out of the Swamp by a freak accident, Swamp Thing is an elemental creature who uses the forces of nature and wisdom of the plant kingdom to fight the polluted world's self-destruction. Inspired by the creation of writer Len Wein and artist Berni Wrightson, Alan Moore took the Swamp Thing to new heights in the 1980s with his unique narrative approach. His provocative and groundbreaking writing, combined with masterly artwork by some of the medium's top artists, made SWAMP THING one of the great comics of the late twentieth century.

15 Responses to “Free download: Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Issue #21”

This is factually incorrect on a couple of levels. First of all, this isn’t issue number 1. It is issue #21. Secondly, it is not Moore’s first issue as writer of Swamp Thing but his second. His first issue was #20 which wrapped up all the outstanding issues of Marty Pasco’s run which was issues 1-19 of the Saga of the Swamp Thing.

Regardless, Moore’s run on Swamp Thing is responsible for the existence of the Vertigo line and thus comics such as Y the Last Man, Fables, Sandman, and countless others and really is must reading if you are one of those rare people that like things.

…Actually, the one to sell the pre-Egotist Moore’s Swampy run on anyone is to give them a copy of Swamp Thing Annual #2, which featured the conclusion of Moore’s first – and best – Swampy vs. Arcane arc. That was the one that hooked me on the series, which lasted until Mark Millar totally fucked up the book and deliberately crashed it.

I’d refer to this as “Alan Moore & Steve Bissette & John Totleben’s” SWAMP THING. The three of them really operated as a symbiotic team on these books, as pretty much any interview with any of them will discuss. (Steve will also credit Tatjana Wood’s coloring, astounding for its sensitivity in those pre-computer-coloring days.) That creative alchemy really makes these comics shine – and endure.

Anyway – Thanks for posting this; I hope it leads more people to these horror classics.

One of the reasons for reading this is that, in addition to being Moore’s first “real” issue on Swamp Thing, it’s an example of how to do an effective retcon; many of the people who tried to follow in Moore’s footsteps are examples of how not to do one, up to and most definitely including the recent decision by Marvel to pretend that Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson’s marriage never happened.

I hope this triggers more comics to be sold on line. I live in a very small place and I’ve stopped buying comics purely for the reason that I just don’t have any place to keep them. Sure I buy a few but I either sell or give them away soon after reading them. Used comic books are hard to sell and I’m just not interested in the collectability of them. I just like to read them. I’d buy a lot more if I didn’t have to store them.